Why Create?

Hello everyone,

This week I've been thinking about what I want to do, with the rest of the quarter and my life. So, I've been thinking a lot about what other people want to see in the world and asking myself: how can I impact them in a way that's fulfilling to me?

So, I think what I'll do today is offer the motivations at the root of some of my endeavors in hopes that it'll inspire some of you to analyze what you'd like to do, who you'd like to impact, and what would fulfill you in your life.

Why Create? Why write this blog?

In some ways this will be a narcissistic answer - I write for myself. Or at least, I write things that I want to read.

So for example, moving past the fact that I write this blog, I appreciate it because:

I want a place to read about productivity and how things should be in society and my personal life.
I value my opinion, and I hope that someday, others will too - even if they don't agree with everything I say.
I want to read the thoughts of other thoughtful people.

This marks what I feel is the first big lesson here: you should create things that you'd enjoy because the odds are, other people will enjoy it too.

For example, I write this blog because I think if I didn't write this blog, I'd really enjoy it. I hope I'd admire the thoughtfulness and the life/societal lessons, and I'd enjoy reading someone's genuine, researched thoughts about the world, even if my worldview conflicted with theirs.

Similar things are true for the question of why I want to be an engineer:

I want to do it because I envision a world where humanity isn't restrained. A situation where, if an asteroid is headed toward Earth, people can dodge it by moving to Mars or somewhere else in the galaxy.
I want to live in a world where life isn't threatened by climate change.
I want to live in a world where our population isn't constrained and people can have the joy of creating and cultivating life and new cultures on other planets or with new lifeforms like AI.
- Because genuinely, I believe life is special, and it would be great if it continued propagating throughout the universe.

Those are the things I wanted to be true when I was a kid, and I hope those are what I can work towards as an engineer. For example, I know the power of AI can help close the inequalities we see in the current world and give us the power to continue dictating our destiny as a species, so, I want to work towards a situation where that dream becomes a reality.

In the words of the late, great Toni Morrison:

“After all, this is my work. I have to take full responsibility for doing it right as well as doing it wrong. Doing it wrong isn’t bad, but doing it wrong and thinking you’ve done it right is.”

As humans, we are all creators. We all create ideas, noises, actions, and many other things. So, like Morrison, we are responsible for stepping back from our work and judging it as if isn't our own.

If our actions are harmful, we must strive to step back and be objective about what we've done.

If we squander our talents, we must decide if it was because we were careless or made the correct decision to pivot away from what we worked to achieve.

Even though I write the blog I have to read and critique it as the Ethan Foong who didn't write the blog, who doesn't care about it. Because if I don't, I risk him turning away or missing something that could help or change his life.

While creating robots I must give it my all. Because if I don't, I risk demoralizing those who are inspired by technology or delaying the progress of all the scientists and engineers who come after me.

So now, I pose this question to you:

What do you want to create? What do you want to see in this world? And, if you already had a stable life and job, what impact would you like to have on your friends, family, or even humanity?

And remember, creations aren't just innovations. You can have an incredible impact by doing what's already been done before. So, even if you aren't keen on changing the world, keep in mind what type of human you'd like to have as your neighbor, friend, family member, or fellow human.

See you next week,

-Ethan